Hut site, Scrallaghbeg, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Scrallaghbeg, Co. Kerry

On the eastern slope of Gleann na nGealt, a shallow ring of tumbled stone marks what was once a small dwelling, so reduced by time that it reads now as little more than a rumple in the ground.

The structure measures roughly 4.1 by 4.3 metres across, with its western side built directly against the enclosing bank of an earthwork, and a gap of nearly 3 metres on the eastern side indicating where the entrance once stood. Small as it is, that gap is one of the more legible details remaining, a doorway that has outlasted the walls around it.

The hut sits within a univallate rath, which is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, typically defined by a single earthen bank and ditch. At Scrallaghbeg, the rath known in Irish as An Lios Rua, or Lisroe, also contains a souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage that would have served for storage or concealment. The combination of hut remains and souterrain within the same enclosure is characteristic of the period, suggesting a working farmstead rather than any ceremonial or defensive function. The site was recorded as part of J. Cuppage's 1986 archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region on the Dingle Peninsula, a systematic effort to document the dense concentration of monuments found across that stretch of west Kerry.

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Pete F
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